Sunday, July 12, 2009

And the war drags on . . .

As violence swept through Iraq today, a new feature, reported by Iran's Press TV, was the targeting of a roadside bomb in Dhi Qar. Jomana Karadsheh (CNN) explains, "The Shiite Arab-dominated province was among the first handed over to Iraqi security forces, and was the scene of periodic clashes between Iraqi security forces and a militia loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in 2007." Aamer Madhani (USA Today) adds, "A USA TODAY reporter was traveling in a separate U.S. convoy a few minutes behind Hill's in Nasiriyah, a relatively peaceful city where Hill had just finished meeting with local political leaders." Though no one is reported wounded or dead from the attacks, others weren't so lucky as Iraq saw repeated bombing attacks on churches today as well as continued attacks on the Iraqi police and Sahwa.

They're just there to try and make the people free,But the way that they're doing it, it don't seem like that to me.Just more blood-letting and misery and tearsThat this poor country's known for the last twenty years,And the war drags on.-- words and lyrics by Mick Softly (available on Donovan's Fairytale)

Last Sunday, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 4321 and tonight? 4322.

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 Baghdad bombings "near churches" which left eight people wounded, a Baghdad car bombing "near a church" which claimed 4 lives and left twenty-one injured, a Baghdad sticky bombing which claimed 1 life and left four people injured, a Baghdad bombing "near a church" which left three people injured. Reuters counts five churches attackd with bombings in Baghdad and drops back to Saturday to note a Baghdad roadside bombing targeting the Iraqi polic which claimed the life of 1 Iraqi civilian and left twenty people injured. And they provide this context, "Iraq's Christians, believed to number around 750,000, are a small minority in a mainly Muslim country of around 28 million. Christians have been sporadically targeted for attacks, particularly in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul, leading many of them to flee abroad."

Reuters notes the corpse "of an official from former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's Iraqi National Accord party" was discovered in Baghdad ("bearing signs of torture").

In this morning's New York Times, Sam Dagher and Amir A. Al-Obeidi contributed "6 Are Killed And 67 Hurt In Bombings In Iraq Cities" on yesterday's violence which notes Nineveh Province's continued violence and that, "[l]ike neighboring Kirkuk Province, it is embroiled in a bitter territorial dispute involving Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens and other ethnic and sectarian groups." And, of course, a territorial dispute between the KRG and the central government ouf of Baghdad. Waleed Ibrahim (Reuters) observes oil-rich Kirkuk's status "is now seen as the leading long term threat to Iraq's stability as sectarian violence dies down". If you remember Sam Dagher's article Friday (click here for critique), notice how Ibrahim is able to break down the basics without taking sides: "Kurds claim Kirkuk as their historic capital and want to attach it, with other disputed territories, to their largely autonomous Kurdistan region -- an idea rejected by the city's Arab and Turkman residents as well as Iraq's Baghdad government." Ibrahim explains that Kirkuk does not appear likely to be getting a vote anytime soon and cites the Speaker of Parliament, Ayad al-Samarai, declaring that instead of open election, Arab and Turkmen MPs are advocating for a number of seats set aside for each ethnic group in the city. Iraqi journalist Hussein Khalifa left Iraq and was accepted for admission into the US under the program that encourages the admission of journalists, translators, etc. Anna M. Tinsley's "Iraqi journalist has second thoughts about resettling in U.S." (McClatchy Newspapers) explains:

Loneliness has set in on the man accustomed to working two jobs and spending much time with his 4-year-old nephew.He has been forced into a slower pace as he waits for a Social Security card and legal documents that will let him formally begin a job search. So he spends time talking with other Iraqi refugees, looking through old pictures, sending e-mails to family and talking on the telephone with his nephew, who wants him to come home.

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
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